How much local beer do you drink?

Not to worry. Having spent time consulting with folks who write polls for a living I just have this knee-jerk reaction that sometimes kicks in without warning.

 

Probably 50% of what I drink is from Short's here in Michigan, which is about a three hour drive one way, so not local. The rest is from my local brewery, or from nearby breweries when I take off on a pub crawlcrawl. But I have to leave room for other non-local stuff that I get at the store. So I'm guessing around 35-40 percent is 'local' drinking.

 

80'ish% local here. The other 20% is made up of Belgian imports, the rare fresh German import, and random bottles from other regions.
There's someone who makes almost every style I crave near me, so I'm fortunate.

 

Chris you mentioned "Belgian imports" so I take it you are a fan of Belgian Ales. Do you like the Abbey/Trappist style ales? Do any of your local breweries produce these beer styles?

Cheers!

 

Indeed I am. I like the abbey style beers (and similar styles) as well as lambics and sour reds/browns.

Locally there are a few places attempting the abbey styles, but very few places succeeding. At least regularly. New Belgium's are probably still the best and their Abbey is a regular purchase for me. I enjoy some items from others (like Elevation and Avery), but find those to be far more American than Belgian. I don't necessarily fault them for that, but it's not like the Reverend or Apis 14 are a replacement for Chimay blue or Rochefort 10.

 

FWIW I have a large selection of locally brewed Saison beers but the number of Abbey/Trappist style Ales is limited. I feel compelled to give a shout out for Weyerbacher Merry Monks Tripel which I think is very, very good. Almost in the league with the imported Belgian Trappist beers. Weyerbacher also makes a very good Quad but IMO this beer is not in the same league as the Belgian imports (but in fairness much more economically priced).

Cheers!

 

70% of the time, I drink locally 100% of the time at either local taprooms OR local breweries.

 

Mostly locals they are that good, especially the IPAs. From there a German beer that interests me or a Pils Urquell now that it's ripping ass hot, obviously AALs.

 

I almost never drank local, until I "adopted" a new local brewery last summer. When they opened, I went in for a beer, and when I went to review it I noted they weren't on Beer Advocate. So I added them as a place, uploaded a picture, then reviewed the beer and the brewery. Since I was on a roll, and since they only had a handful beers I set out to review them all. Eventually I couldn't get in there enough to try everything they came out with, but I still manage to have most of them.

 

Pretty much this, only something upward of probably 98%.

I live in the Great New England Beer Desert, that geographical region loosely bounded by Route I-89 to the north and MA Route 2 to the south. At a minimum, I have to travel 45 minutes to an hour to get to Brick & Feather, Honest Weight or River Roost, or two to two-and-a-half hours to get to metro Boston, Burlington or Portland. So, I guess I have to consider anything in NNE to be local.

 

Indeed, those descriptions, ugghh.

I drink about 60% local if I had to guess. No motive other than freshness and what I am in the mood for at the time is filled by local options about 60% of the time.

 

Looking at my last 50 reviews, 6 of them were local. That puts me just north of 8%.

I'd say that is high as well, as I don't often go out to local taprooms. I tend to buy locally distributed beer, which limits my choices considerably - mostly because I've had a majority of them.

 

40% local because why limit my choices.

 

It's probably 50/50, the local beers around here are really good but I have a lot of out of state faves.

 

I also did not vote. 60-65% local. I am lucky to live in a region packed with breweries.

 

There are three factors for me, below I prioritize them.

1. Quality, quality, quality. There are some good local beers, but I refuse to support mediocre beer because it is local.
2. My desire to try new things. Local breweries do offer new stuff often, but those selections are dwarfed by what is available "new-to-me" in retail stores from not so local breweries. Also, my wife and I love day trips and vacation trips to try new breweries and tap rooms. I think those places fall out of the definition of local.
3. Convenience. My local geography makes it far easier to pick up my beer at a retail store than any of the local breweries. Referencing #2 above, I am always tempted to the not so local varieties.

Maybe not a major factor, but I realized while writing this that Beer Advocate (and other internet info) drive the desire for things not local. Not on purpose, but it is definitely a subliminal factor.

 

In Indianapolis we don't have a strong local contingency of breweries so I don't drink local all that often. If I do drink Indiana it's Three Floyds, 18th Street IPAs, or 450 North or actually AT a local brewery. My favorite local beer is Black Acre Natural Liberty.

My focus tends to be new distro and Shelton Brothers stuff when I'm buying locally.

 

A lot. I profoundly disagree with the choices in the poll. Good beer is everywhere, especially, Alabama. We sure have a lot in Arkansas.